Pro-life, pro-choice, pro-abortion.

I am a woman, and a mother, so I feel like I have a pretty good idea of what reproductive health looks like, perhaps even better than the white men controlling the legislation. With Mother’s Day coming up, I thought I could write a sappy blog post about what being a mom means to me, but I feel like for now I’ve exhausted that channel. I’d rather talk about something else that is near and dear to my heart.

I have always been “Pro-Choice”, at least since I could comprehend what that meant. I was on a school bus probably when I was a freshman in high school, and one of the older kids was talking abortion, and up until then I didn’t know how I felt about it. I was a Christian, and as a Christian I think I was supposed to be “Pro-Life”. But it came to me suddenly and I was just like “Yeah, obviously it should be a choice.” And even though I always wanted kids, I knew that, should I ever fall pregnant when I wasn’t ready to raise a child, I would want that choice afforded to me.

I could never tell a woman to just tough it out for 9 months so that a baby could be adopted by a loving family — or not! And unnecessary pregnancy is unnecessary stress on your body and mind. And it’s expensive. The cost of our birth was in the 5-figures before insurance (thank christ we have insurance).

If you want to be Pro-Life, BE PRO-LIFE. Make affordable healthcare completely available, give mothers and fathers paid leave to heal and bond so that we can raise successful members of society. Make sure women have access to mental health services during this difficult period. Subsidize childcare so women don’t have to choose between motherhood and a career. Give these children lunch, and art programs, and housing if they need it.

And let women have abortions if they want to.

Being a mother now, I believe more firmly than ever that abortion should not only be available, but encouraged to women who don’t want to carry a baby. It’s just that fucking simple. Many Pro-Choice advocates fall back on that old line “Nobody is for abortion.” But I am, I am Pro-Abortion. Women should get them if they want to. End of.